Rider At Hogwarts
by IndigoStarshine
Summary: What would happen if Alex was born with magic? What would the consequences be for both worlds? Will Alex be introduced to 'the bank' before his uncle's death? Follow Alex as he attends Hogwarts in the same year as the trio. Rated T just in case.
1. On his Eleventh Birthday

A seven year old Alex was playing in his backyard with a childhood friend, Angus Simpson. It was a day like any other, Jack Starbright the new housekeeper and babysitter had picked Alex and his friend up from school. Angus' mother worked long hours and Jack had made an agreement with her that Angus could have the afternoon with Alex instead of staying at the school's afternoon care where older kids often pushed him around.

They would usually play on the tire swing Uncle Ian had set up for him, with Alex's Nintendo and sometimes race around the street on their bikes. But today they settled on kicking Angus' ball around Alex's backyard. They were practising the soccer moves they would need when they both would become professional players as adults.

"And Angus shots a goal!" shouted Angus jumping in joy after managing to kick the ball into the improvised goal of two garden spades jabbed into the ground.

Alex laughed, he was having fun. It was fair to let Angus win sometimes; he couldn't force the ball to move around by itself like Alex could. Yet, even without his strange talent Alex could still beat Angus because he was bigger and fitter.

"I'm bored. We've been play this for over an hours. What else is there to do around here that we haven't already done a thousand times?"

That was the downside with Angus, he was always demanding for something new to do. Alex had an idea.

"Can you do tricks? Magic tricks?" Alex asked.

"No. Can you?"

"Yeah. Wanna see?"

Angus shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

Alex picked up the ball and held it in front of him. He concentrated, it took him a while to teach himself this trick and he really hoped it would work when other people were watching. Strange things would often happen around him ever since he could remember, especially when he was really happy, surprised, cranky or sad. He had only realised that he could somehow control it a couple of weeks ago.

"Watch this!"

Alex threw the ball up into the air. It hovered up high for about a minute before it fell back down to the earth.

Angus' eyes widened in shock, "How the hell did you do that?"

"A good magician never reveals his secrets." Alex muttered. He wasn't sure how he could do it or why, he just could.

"I can do other things too."

"Like what?"

"I can make the ball disappear."

"Oh really? Prove it."

Alex had to concentrate really hard to make this one work, but surely enough the ball faded away.

It was then that Angus started screaming. He ran out of the backyard, through the house and out to the front. For about a whole hour, he wouldn't come inside no matter how much Jack tried to coax him. She was confused as to what Alex had done wrong.

"Alex stole my ball!" He wailed when she questioned him.

"No I didn't its right here." Alex responded scornfully. It was easy to make it reappear. He held out the ball and threw it out at Angus who caught it. Angus checked and then rechecked the ball to make sure it was really his.

When Angus' mum finally came to pick him up, Jack apologised immensely. Angus said nothing about what Alex did but it was obvious it was as easy as that for them not to be friends anymore.

The next day at school, Angus resorted to calling Alex a 'freak' and told all the other kids to stay away from him. The other kids didn't believe him but resorted to calling Alex all sorts of names anyway.

It wouldn't last long. Ian Rider took Alex to stay with him in the Marais district of Paris about a month later. He made new friends there and learnt a new language. He also learnt to hide his 'abnormality' from of other people. He would do the occasional practical joke or do something accidentally but that was about it. When he returned to England, Uncle Ian sent him to a different school. He never saw or heard of Angus Simpson ever again.

* * *

It was February 13, that one day of the year when Alex turned a year older. This year he would be eleven. Little did he know that out of all his birthdays, his eleventh birthday was sure to be one that was the most memorable.

On the morning of his birthday, Alex greeted Jack in the kitchen for pancakes like he had done for every year she had been involved in his life. There were only a couple of days in the year where she would bother making pancakes and his birthday was always one of them. She usually hated cooking and only made things that were easy. Uncle Ian was there too, he was having a long service leave from working for the bank.

"Good morning, Jack," Alex greeted her with enthusiasm, "What are we having with pancakes?"

"Warm chocolate sauce and berries," Jack confirmed, "There's also ice-cream, but I think the current weather might still be too cold for it."

"I don't mind."

"Happy birthday, Alex!" Uncle Ian exclaimed with a smile as he glanced over his newspaper, he rarely smiled but it was almost priceless when he did, "Are you ready to open presents yet?"

"Is that a question you have to ask?" Alex replied with a smile.

This year Uncle Ian had given him a Swiss army knife, a new soccer ball (his last one was tattered and old) and a new Nintendo game, Treasures of War. Jack had given him a cool bicycle helmet and an ugly lime green Hawaiian shirt (it was a practical joke, every year she bought him an awful item of clothes – last year he was given pink underwear).

That morning was an otherwise unspectacular Sunday morning. They took turns of eating Jack's pancakes which they smothered in chocolate sauce, berries and anything else that would suit pancakes. He thanked Jack and Uncle Ian for the presents he was given. Alex went back to his room to play Treasures of War. Jack spent the day calling her friends and doing a quick house clean. While Uncle Ian went to his work room to do some paper work for the bank, despite the fact that he was apparently taking a holiday.

It would be a couple of hours before Jack would hear the fateful knock on the door and open it to find a rather strange middle aged man standing in front of her.

"Alex!" He could just barely hear her over the sounds of his new game, he considered ignoring her.

"ALEX! Come here, there's someone at the door for you. Ian, there's someone you want to see."

Alex reluctantly went to see who it was. Standing at the doorway was a middle aged man wearing a pink polo shirt with what looked like ladies' jeans. Alex felt confused as to what this man wanted with him, so was his uncle.

"Hello, what is your business with my nephew? Are you from Alex's school?" Uncle Ian asked in a slightly intimidating voice. It was understandable that he didn't appreciate seeing an odd middle aged man interested in his nephew.

The man only responded with a polite smile, "Good afternoon, my name is Sam Powell and I am pleased to inform you that Alexander Rider has received a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Young Alexander here is a wizard."

Ian Rider burst out into a wolfish laughing, "So let me get this straight, you're knocking on our door to tell us my nephew is a wizard?"

The man seemed to be unscathed by this sort of reaction, "Yes, I am. This is not a joke."

"I'm sorry, but we're currently busy."

Alex and Jack only watched as Uncle Ian slammed the door in the man's face and locked it, both of them were equally confused as to what was going on – a man just randomly knocked on the Rider residence to tell Alex he was a wizard. It was absolutely ludicrous.

Yet, what happened after was something equally bizarre. The door seemed to open up by itself, locks and everything. The man was now holding up what looked like to be a mere stick in his left hand. This seemed to peeve Uncle Ian. Both he and Jack however, seemed to be amazed.

"Please at least listen. When a young witch or wizard born to non-magical parents a ministry official is sent to their residence to assure them of their child's abilities. I'll even show you."

The man began to look around the room as if to eye a perfect target; then with a wave of the stick he was holding, the hat stand sprouted human-like feet and started to tap dance. Even someone as sceptical as Uncle Ian had to admit that a trick like that was virtually impossible to pull off.

'_So I'm not the only one after all,_' Alex concluded to himself. He felt some relief over not being completely abnormal but also confused and inquisitive. For instance, why did he have his abilities? Was there actually a special school for people like him? Why hadn't he met any other wizards or witches before?

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get down to business."

The man then continued to explain the basics of the wizarding world. Alex couldn't believe that there was a whole society of people who had magical abilities just like him. Jack was silent throughout the entire time the man spoke. She seemed to be curious and was considerate of the fact that Alex was a wizard. Uncle Ian however interrupted with continual questions. He had a difficult time processing what the man was talking about or rather accepting what he had to say. Yet again, he had never been on the receiving end of one of Alex's pranks or witnessed him have any bizarre outbursts.

"Of course, magic society exists in secrecy so you can't tell anyone that doesn't already know about magic. We give plenty of assistance to non-magical families who have a magic child. We'll even help you buy school supplies and show you where to board the Hogwart's Express."

Alex thought about his school friends and what was he going to tell them about where he would be going in August. He would not be attending high school with them.

"I have a hard time believing that something like magic can be kept such a big secret for so long. You still haven't answered one of my questions – why is my nephew a wizard?"

The man replied with a patient tone, "Easy - with magic. We still don't know why some people are magic and others aren't. Anyway, here is Alex's acceptance letter which will explain more."

He passed Alex a parchment envelope and shook his hand. It was a gesture of congratulations more than anything else.

"And just so you know, my father threw a chair at the man who told me I was a wizard. It is a great honour to escort another future student to Hogwarts. Oh, if you need to contact us for assistance just write a letter and send it through the post. It will reach us. See you later."

With a loud crack, the man vanished into thin air. It startled all three of them. Alex instantly wanted to learn how to do that.

"Well, I never thought that I would ever see the day when I would be told magic existed!" exclaimed Jack with a light laugh. Alex had to agree with her.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_This is my first attempt of an Alex at Hogwarts crossover. I promise that there will be spy stuff as well as magic but I cannot promise to stick to canon. Things will happen differently then to both canons. Do you love, hate, confused or just meh? If you think it could improve or spot any grammar errors just tell me so. Also, vote on my profile on which house you think Alex should be sorted in. ~ Ann707_


	2. Trip to the Magical World

_Hi, I'm back again with a new chapter. A long chapter by the way._

* * *

Alex was filled from head to toe with trepidation. Today would be the day that he would be entering the wizarding world for the very first time.

There were only two weeks before he had to board a so-called 'Platform nine and three quarters' and today was the only day that the one of the teachers at the school had made an appointment to meet at the Rider residence to help him with buying his school things at 'Diagon Alley'. This had to be organised by post, not telephone, something that they weren't accustomed to in this day and age.

Uncle Ian had agreed to let Alex attend a school of wizardry on one condition: that he could go with Alex to Diagon Alley and judge the validity of magic for himself. Despite everything, he was still sceptical.

A couple of weeks before, Alex said goodbye to all of his school friends and promised to maybe write to them when he left to attend boarding school. He was sad to leave his friends behind but hoped that he would be able to make new friends where he would be going. He had been able to do that before in Germany, France, Spain and other places where Uncle Ian had taken him.

Alex had to lie to his friends that he would be attending a small boarding school set in a remote area of Scotland because Uncle Ian's work with the bank required him to travel more and more frequently. The man who had visited him on his birthday had told them that sharing the secret of magic with anyone else was strictly forbidden. Besides, Alex knew how his friends would react to being told something like that.

"Alex, you know you should be getting ready – it's almost 9:45." said Jack when she knocked on his bedroom door. Alex was ready, well sort of – as ready as someone can be when they are told they will be entering the Wizarding World. He was dressed and everything, he was just spending a couple of minuets reading over the list of items he needed to buy. A standard size 2 pewter cauldron? A cat, an owl or a toad? It was just baffling and intruging.

* * *

At ten o'clock a witch appeared at their doorstep. The woman was dressed in a long, flowing maroon dress. She took no hesitation in introducing herself as Professor Septima Vector, and then explained that she taught Arithmacy at Hogwarts and that she would be assisting them with the purchasing of Alex's school supplies. To Alex she seemed very strict and forbidding but Uncle Ian perceived her behaviour as professional.

"Now, I will show you where to go. Diagon Alley isn't far from here so it will be easy to just walk there and take subway. Usually I would just hold your hands and apparate somewhere close. Once someone shows you The Leaky Cauldron, you can enter it yourselves. You are more than welcome to ask me questions about Hogwarts and the wizarding world in general, that's why professors are allocated to help future students with entering Diagon Alley."

They then proceeded to follow Professor Vector around London. Jack and Ian asked her questions on the way but Alex found himself feeling rather shy. Or rather, he was stumped on finding questions to ask.

"Wow, it's a long way." Jack moaned. It was obviously further then she had hoped it would be. She also seemed to be uncomfortable with the glances that Professor Vector's unconventional dress style was attracting.

"Don't worry, we aren't far now. See -" she pointed to a place in the distance, "it's just there."

"We could have easily just driven here by car. There are plenty of parks outside." Uncle Ian sighed.

"Car?" Professor Vector stammered, "Why would we want to use a car to get here? Surely walking is easier. Surely messing with all those gears and leavers is more effort than what it's worth."

"Umm, No," Jack shook her head, "It would have been much easier and much less time consuming. You could have just told us to drive to Charing Cross Road."

"I find cars rather unnerving. I've always wondered how such a big metal thing can move by itself without the help of magic."

Uncle Ian took care not to appear patronising, "It actually rather easy to drive them once you are taught how. Basically, cars are an intricate system that relies on the burning of petrol to power the primary engine that in turn, powers movement and other functions. Do you understand how magic works? You don't seem to be disturbed by using magic."

Professor Vector thought about this for a moment, "Magic is described as the ability to alter the fabric of reality using innate, inherited ability. It is not fully understood but fundamental laws have been established."

Before the adults around him could get themselves into a deep philosophical discussion about the essence of magic, Alex decided that this was the perfect opportunity to ask a question before they reached The Leaky Cauldron and entered the wizarding world. He had only just thought of the question just moments before and he was almost desperate to know the answer.

"Professor Vector?"

"Yes, dear boy?"

"Are wizards born to non-magical parents common?"

"I would say that they are uncommon but not unusual or rare. It is rare that non-magical people, 'muggles', produce a magical child and extremely rare that magical people produce a non-magical child, a 'squib'. I'd say about a sixth of all wizards are true muggle-borns. There are others are born to muggle born parents or are muggle born but can recall wizarding background through squib parents, grandparents or even great grandparents. They are becoming more and more common as traditional wizarding families, purebloods, are dying out. Most wizards are 'half-blood' per se and have both magical and non-magical relatives. Don't worry Alex; you won't be the only one in your first year who won't have had much experience with the magic world. "

This made Alex feel a bit more comfortable.

"So," Uncle Ian concurred, "Magic is a genetic trait? Passed down through generations?"

"Yes," Professor Vector said after a minutes thought, "I suppose it is."

They soon stopped outside what Alex could see was a small restaurant that had a sign out that only had a picture of a cauldron with a crack at the bottom leaking its content. It was between a vintage record shop and a bookshop.

"Well, I don't see anything. There's only a record shop and a bookstore." Uncle Ian lamented.

"I can see a 'Danger, keep out!' Sign in front of a decrepit, old building." Jack stated rather confused.

"Now this_ is_ The Leaky Cauldron. There are muggle repellent spells put in place to make sure that no non-magic folk enter by accident. Muggles must purposely know the place is here. Apparently different muggles see different things; I came across a muggle mother a couple of years back who saw a camping supplies shop."

"Oh! I can see it now!" Jack exclaimed excitedly, "It just changed before my eyes."

"Woah!" Uncle Ian's mouth opened in shock, "I've experienced some pretty unbelievable stuff in my life but nothing like this."

"Are you all ready?" Professor Vector asked as they were about to enter. Clearly glad that Alex's guardians could finally see the building they were looking for.

Alex nodded his head as did Jack. Uncle Ian reached into his bag to bring something out. Alex knew it was a video camera, his suspicious uncle liked proof and evidence for everything. Professor Vector had no idea what it was and simply looked over it.

* * *

Two MI6 agents had been assigned to monitor Ian Rider for a week. He wasn't under official investigation; it was just standard routine for MI6 agents to be check for their loyalties.

Today was an interesting development. They had discovered Ian Rider, his eleven year old nephew and his American housekeeper Jack Starbright following a strangely dressed woman across Charing Cross Road.

"She just looks like a weird hippy," said Jeremiah through binoculars, "I've never seen hippies wear maroon though. Drive a bit closer towards them, Charlie. Let's take a better look."

Slowly, but surely Charlie drove the inconspicuous white Toyota closer so they could see the woman better. The group looked like it was in quite deep discussion.

"Should we try to do an identity scan on the woman?" He asked.

"Umm… No," decided Jeremiah, "There is still no evidence to believe that Rider's loyalties are in question. We'll just continue to watch."

The group stopped right between a record shop and a bookshop. Jeremiah could see a dodgy little fish and chip shop, something utterly uninteresting to someone who detested all forms of seafood. He had a feeling that the place would smell so bad he would want to vomit.

"Hmm… Why did they stop in front of a kitchenware shop?" Charlie muttered. Jeremiah was sure that his partner was starting to go mad; there was no kitchenware shop anywhere. However, he didn't say anything.

To their utter surprise the group vanished nowhere to be seen. It seemed as though they had simply vanished.

"They vanished right before my eyes. Where did they go?" asked Charlie. Jeremiah shook his head.

They waited a few minutes but to no avail, the group had not returned. They would later leave and write the incident in their report. They would check the Rider residence the next day to find Ian back at his house. There was nothing to suggest that Ian was up to no good but the incident at Charing Cross Road did interest their superiors.

* * *

It was rather dark in The Leaky Cauldron and there was a musty, old and wooden smell. Despite this it seemed to be quite a popular restaurant; Wizards were dining on tables spread around the place, eating what seemed to be rather unusual dishes. A few diners began to notice their presence; their ordinary clothes were out of place around people wearing cloaks and robes. There were others who were startled by the contraption that Uncle Ian was holding in his hand.

"Oh!" exclaimed Jack on entering the building, "Look at the pictures around the room, they're moving! They're moving!"

It was true, the pictures were moving. Both Alex and Jack took time to look at the paintings and marvelled at the fact that they could move. Some portraits even waved back at them, which was friendly. Uncle Ian however, seemed irritated by the fact that his camera had stopped working and spent some time just trying to make his camera work. It wasn't long before he gave up.

"We first have to exchange some of your money for wizarding money then we can go shopping. Be careful to follow me."

After going through the gateway of moving bricks, Alex and his guardians spent some time just being bewildered by all the shops and stalls of Diagon Alley. It wasn't hard for the three of them to enjoy the ambiance of the magical world. There was so much to see and do. Alex spotted jars filled with eyes, broomsticks, a menagerie of odd looking animals, lots of delicious candy and ice cream, a wand shop and a joke shop.

At least they weren't the only ones not dressed in robes, many teenagers were dressed in normal attire for their age (often gothic-like and black or sometimes just plain normal). There was a family being led by a greasy looking wizard with shoulder length black hair and a hooked nose. The family of three were dressed in expensive attire that signified that they were upper class. Their son looked about his age. They seemed as happy to be escorted by this man as he did escorting them… It was strong loathing.

When they had finally arrived Gringotts, Professor Vector issued a warning:

"Now, inside will be goblins. Don't be alarmed by them, they are just doing their job. Be polite to them and they will not be any trouble. Okay?"

They all nodded. They tried to get all of their money converted as quickly as possible and left. Jack seemed to be especially frightened by goblins, especially when the goblin serving them gave a big toothy smile. Alex had to admit that they also disturbed him.

They then proceeded to purchase more of Alex's school belongings. Books and other normal items first, then there were the more interesting purchases. When Alex had to choose between an owl, a cat or a toad; it was a no brainer. Alex was allergic to cats, Professor Vector also told him that toads were unpopular and that owls were very useful. So, they bought a barn owl at Jack's selection (she claimed it was the cutest one there).

They had stopped at a safety gear shop at Uncle Ian's insistence. He seemed to be especially interested in buying a sneak-o-scope, an anti-intruder deterrent and an invisibility cloak. He was extremely disappointed when he was told that muggles were not allowed to purchase these items, no matter how useful he might find them. Alex comforted him by buying a small protective stone that he could keep with him. He also bought one for Jack.

* * *

Professor Vector then escorted them to Ollivanders so Alex could buy a wand. A wispy, grey-haired wizard measured him briefly, then placed a wand in Alex's hand and told him to 'give it a wave'.

He did so and smashed all the glass in the window in front of him. The old wizard seemed undisturbed by this; apparently he was absolutely okay with have his window blown to smithereens by an eleven year old.

"No, no, that one will not do," he muttered as he took the wand from Alex's hand and searched for another one, "Try this one and don't worry about making a mess, I can easily fix it once you leave. I have been doing this job for over 60 years and it's happened for everyone who has bought a wand here."

After about a successive seventeen wands, he, Jack, Professor Vector and his Uncle were starting to get tired. He had also succeeded in destroying most of the shop by then. Ollivander however, stated that he liked a picky customer.

"Alex," Jack lamented, "You're even worse than I am with shoe shopping."

Finally, once after Alex had tried about twenty five wands there was clearly a match. A series of firework-like multi-coloured sparks came from the tip.

"Ah! We have found the match for the difficult customer! 13 and a half inches, Larch, phoenix feather and slightly springy. You must be an interesting boy!"

So, they paid Ollivander eight galleons, thanked him and took no hesitation in leaving the shop.

* * *

"Now, to cross platform nine and three quarters it is better off watching other families do it before you. It is between platforms nine and ten. I've got more instructions written here," Professor Vector passed Alex a small piece of paper, "If there is anything else that you are interested in or inquiries you might want to ask, now is the time. If not, this is it. I will escort you all out."

"Thank you for helping my nephew and escorting us around this confusing place."

Professor Vector smiled at them, feeling rather flattered, "It has been a pleasure."

Once they had left The Leaky Cauldron to return to Charing Cross Road, Uncle Ian had called a taxi to take them home once his mobile phone was working again. He and Jack were both completely exhausted; however Uncle Ian was deep in thought.

"Oh, are you the usual odd people who come from Charing Cross Road?" inquired the taxi driver at the sight of his caged owl.

"Yes," Alex said with a smile.

Once they had arrived home, Alex placed all his new school stuff in his room and lay down on the bed. He had seen enough exotic and unusual things for one day and there was sure to be more to come.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading this far, I know that this is an abnormally long chapter! :D Reviews and help with grammar are always appreciated. On holidays, so expect a bit more writing from me at the moment. The poll for what Hogwarts house you would like Alex to be in is still open and on my profile page. Vote before it is too late!_


	3. All Aboard the Hogwarts Express

"So, Alex – are you sure you can do this?" Jack asked, she seemed hesitant to even watch him try to cross the so called platform nine and three quarters. She would be staying at a café nearby until Uncle Ian picked her up. Even Alex had to admit that it was daunting. What if he smashed into the bricks?

"I'll try," was the only response he could give.

Uncle Ian had volunteered to go first and check if it was alright. Apparently there was this green light that told them there was nobody glancing in their direction and they were safe to go through. He just had to run into the brick wall between platforms nine and ten.

After Uncle Ian had successfully run through the wall, it was Alex's turn. Alex closed his eyes as he ran forwards and expected to crash. However, he didn't and when he opened his eyes he was surrounded by children and parents saying goodbye in front of a huge train. They were told to change into their school robes only when they were had boarded the train but many students, particularly older ones, were already wearing their school gear.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Uncle Ian asked, to which Alex nodded. Uncle Ian seemed to be melancholic for the last couple of days. There were times that he was in a lowly mood. Maybe something bad had happened at the bank again or he was just sad to be saying goodbye to Alex.

It wasn't long before his owl started screeching again. The barn owl that Jack had picked for him turned out to be a bit of a nuisance. It had a habit of screeching for no apparent reason, pecking until it drew blood and also pooped in inappropriate places when they let him out. There was a reason why the shop they bought him from only had a galleon on the bird. Jack insisted that it was 'cute but diabolically evil' and Alex could only agree. Alex couldn't think of a proper name for the owl yet but the family often referred to it as 'Screeches Too Much' or 'Discount Owl'.

Uncle Ian however had found the owl quite useful; it did the services that it was meant to and did them quite well. Uncle Ian said that the owl was an extremely useful method of letter transport, especially if he didn't want the message to be intercepted. He wanted one for himself; only he hoped that it wouldn't be as unruly as Screeches Too Much.

"Hey, sorry to disturb you but your owl is being quite loud," said an older girl already dressed in her school gear, she was in the green house – Slytherin.

Alex could only shrug, "Umm… Sorry. There isn't much I can do about her; she's just a naughty owl."

"Would you mind if I silence him for a bit?"

"No, not at all. Please do it."

She pointed her wand at Screeches Too Much, swished it and muttered 'silencio'. The owl was still screeching but there was no noise coming out.

"Thanks."

The girl smiled at him, "No problem." She then walked away to catch up with her friends.

It was only a minute or two until the owl realised that she was failing to annoy anyone and stopped trying to make noise.

Uncle Ian then turned to him, "Now, promise me you'll be safe and write to us frequently."

"Of course."

Without warning, Uncle Ian had embraced him in a hug. It was unusual for him to display such strong emotions. There was only a short time until the train would be leaving and most of the other kids had already boarded. It was already puffing steam.

"Now, knock 'em dead."

"I will, see you later."

Alex and his Uncle exchanged a knuckle punch. Alex then gave his luggage to the porters and boarded the Hogwarts Express. He then waved his Uncle goodbye as the train slowly gained momentum.

* * *

Once Alex had said goodbye to his Uncle he was confronted by another problem - where to sit. Most of the other compartments were already taken and Alex wanted to sit with other first years, just so he could have a talk with them. It took him a while before he found some people who looked about his age.

"Um, excuse me, but I was wondering if there were any seats available?"

The girl looked at him and grinned, "Come in."

There was also another girl, tall and blonde, and a boy whose face reminded Alex of a rabbit.

"I'm Tracey Davis and I'm from Liverpool. Who are you and where are you from?"

"I'm Alex Rider. I'm from Brookland, London."

"That's interesting. Are you related to the Riders who come from East Sussex? They had a son who is a fifth year Ravenclaw and a daughter who is a second year Hufflepuff."

"Um… No, not that I'm aware of."

"Ah," Tracey shrugged it off, "Never mind."

"I'm Lisa Turpin and my mother has moved all over the place doing different jobs. She's currently working with quinpeds. We live close to the Isle of Drear."

The other two were quite impressed by this.

"My father and I have lived in Wimbledon all my life," the boy added, "He doesn't work anymore, he's too old and besides, we have more than enough money."

"What's your name?" Tracey asked him.

"Theodore Nott."

Her eyes widened. Maybe his name was quite impressive or rather his family.

"How old is your dad?" Alex asked.

"He turns eighty nine next October 26," he replied, not thinking that this was anything unusual. There was a minutes silence; Alex guessed that it would have been rather rude to comment further on his father's age.

"Umm…" Lisa mumbled trying to make conversation, "What houses are you all hoping to be sorted in?"

"Slytherin," Theodore was quick to answer, "My whole family has been for yonks. It would be a shame for me not to be. Besides, Slytherin is the house of brotherhood, the cunning and the ambitious."

"My mum was a Gryffindor but I think I will be a Ravenclaw. I've always been bookish."

"For me it's complicated. See, my mum was a Hufflepuff and so is my third older sister, Mary. My second older sister Xylia is a Gryffindor and she's as rowdy as anything. My oldest sister Amethyst was a Ravenclaw and she's now studying to be a healer. All my extended family are or were Slytherin or Gryffindor."

"I don't know either," Alex admitted, he did read about the houses and their traits over the couple of days, "I suppose I could be any house. I don't have any family that were magic any way. I have no idea what to expect."

"That's ok," Lisa smiled, "My mum was also muggle born. We don't have anything to do with her extended family, except for my grandparents."

Tracey didn't seem to think anything of this, but Theodore seemed to shuffle uncomfortably in the seat.

As Alex continued to talk to them it was clear that these people might not be his school friends, well maybe Lisa or Tracey, they seemed ok but Theodore was a bit strange. They all took turns going out to change into their school robes as they came close to the school.

It wasn't long before a girl with bushy brown hair and big front teeth knocked on their compartment door and asked whether they had seen a toad because a boy called Neville had lost it.

"Maybe Neville should take better care of his things," Theodore replied.

"That's besides the point!" She refuted, "Have you seen a toad or not?"

"Hey, there it is over there," Lisa exclaimed and surely enough, there was a toad hanging on the ceiling of their compartment. How it might have gotten up there, Alex had no idea; maybe it wasn't a normal toad.

Tracey shrieked, "Ew! Toads are gross. Why would anyone want them?"

Alex took no hesitation in using his magic to get the toad off the ceiling (as it was far out of the reach of eleven year olds). He regretted not spending some time to actually study spells, but he could easily get it off wandlessly. He unlatched the toad from the ceiling and levitated it into his hand.

"Here," Alex said to the bossy girl, trying to keep a firm grasp on the defiant toad, "He's a tricky one, so keep him steady."

The others seemed amazed by this.

"Thank you. Neville will be very happy for you," She mustered.

"That's quite impressive you know," stated Tracey, "Being able to control magic that well without a wand is quite unusual, especially for someone our age."

"- And especially considering that you're muggle born," Theodore added.

This upset the bushy haired girl to the point where her cheeks turned pink, "There are plenty of muggle borns who made significant contributions to the magical world. There is no evidence that being muggle born affects your magical ability. I'm muggle born by the way."

'_Maybe there is something likable about her'_, Alex thought.

"Muggle borns everywhere," Theodore muttered to himself and shook his head.

* * *

It wasn't long before it became dark and they had arrived at their destination. An abnormally ginormous man ("He's part giant," Alex heard Theodore whisper to him and the others around him) lead them to wooden boats that were so decrepit that it was obvious that the only thing keeping them together was magic. They could easily have been as old as the castle itself.

They were then lined up outside the dining hall where they were greeted by a stern looking professor. Apparent everybody inside the hall was waiting for them.

* * *

_A/N: Last chance to vote on my profile page people. Till next time, peace out._


	4. The Sorting Ceremony

Alex gasped when he first entered the Great Hall. The place was amazing. There were four tables where students sat in their houses and another table at the front for the staff. The architecture was old and had a sort of boldness about it. There were thousands upon thousands of candles floating above them, irradiating a magnificent glow. Above that there was nothing but a starry night sky lit up by the moon.

The buffy-haired girl from the train was near him and he could hear her pompously whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_."

Even students whom where familiar with magic were astounded, Nott whispered to himself, "Hogwarts really is as beautiful as my mother described it. Bless her soul."

He could see that the older students were looking at them drearily. The sorting ceremony was probably only exciting for the new first years. Besides, he heard someone mutter that they couldn't wait to eat. Alex wondered where the food would come from.

Alex huddled with the other first years as a group at the front of the four student tables around a stool that had a tattered looking hat sitting on top.

'_This must be the so-called sorting hat,'_ thought Alex, wondering how it worked.

The hat suddenly came to life, spooking most of the first year students. To Alex's disbelief (or horror), it opened its large flap-like mount started to sing:

"_Oh you may not think me pretty, _

_But don't judge on what you see, _

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me…"_

He heard it continue on for a while; it was a pretty good song in Alex's opinion – even for an enchanted hat. It sung about Gryffindors being brave, Slytherins being cunning, Hufflepuffs being hard-working, Ravenclaws being clever and other stuff.

Once it had finished, Professor McGonagall picked up a scroll.

"When I call your name, you will come up, sit on the stool and the sorting hat will decide on what house you belong to. First up, Abbott, Hannah."

A timid looking girl made her way up the steps to sit on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head and within a few minutes, the hat called out "Hufflepuff!"

Alex heard a whisper, "Ha ha, sentenced to wearing bumblebee colours for the next seven years."

To his surprise it wasn't Theodore, but Tracey.

The sorting hat then sorted a couple of others before it came to the first person that Alex recognised. Tracey Davis was sorted into Slytherin. The upper class boy that Alex had seen during his visit to Diagon Alley became a Hufflepuff; his name was Justin Finch-Fletchley. There was a few more before the bossy girl with buffy hair came up to be sorted and to his surprise she became a Gryffindor. He missed her name but was sure that her surname started with a 'G' or 'H'. Theodore Nott also became a Slytherin as he had hoped.

It wasn't too long before the rest of the hall sprung into interest when Professor McGonagall called upon a "Potter, Harry."

Alex recognised the name from reading some of his school books when bored.

"It's the boy who lived! He's in our year!" he heard someone near him whisper with excitement.

A scrawny, bespectacled boy timidly walked up to be sorted, aware that everyone in the room was taking an interest in him. It occurred to Alex that he was rather unfamiliar with his fame. Alex could almost hear people holding their breath as he sorting hat was placed on his scruffy dark hair. It took a little longer than usual for the hat to sort him but it wasn't too long before the hat declared:

"Gryffindor!"

There was a huge uproar from the Gryffindor table of cheering and chanting 'We got Potter! We got Potter!' It almost felt like an explosion. The red house was surely living up to its reputation of being rowdy. The other tables looked disappointed, especially Slytherin. It was only after the headmaster stood up that everyone started to calm down and the sorting of other students resumed. It did seem a little rude to make such a fuss of only one student.

After this, the hall quickly lost interest in the sorting of first years. Alex cringed; it was coming closer to his turn.

'_At least I won't have the whole school eyeing me,'_ Alex reassured himself.

"Rider, Alexander."

Alex went up, gradually made his way to the stood. He could see the most of the other students sitting at the tables looking rather disinterested. The hat was then placed on his head.

'_Hmm…. It isn't often that I sit on a prospective student who has your amount of latent magical talent. You're an interesting and unusual boy as well, but where should I put you?'_

Alex could hear it's voice in his head, it was like it could seep into his thoughts. It was an uncomfortable experience. Alex couldn't recall the last time he was called something on the lines of 'an interesting and unusual boy'.

'_You could thrive in any house as you are able to use any opportunity to your advantage. You could go to Ravenclaw as you appear to have a generous amount of intelligence and natural curiosity. Yet you don't have a burning, strong interest in the attainment of knowledge or scholastic achievement. You could also do admirably well with Hufflepuff as the values of dedication, loyalty, fairness will do you justice but I don't see your talents flourishing to their potential in that house.'_

Alex quickly wondered how it did sort students.

'_Ah, a good question,'_ the hat honed in on his curiosity, '_maybe Ravenclaw is the place for you. I sort according to latent traits, their interests, personal preferences, houses that will hopefully bring out the best in them and place where they will make the best friends. I'm also restricted by how many students are already in that house._

'_Now, back to your sorting. I can put you in either Slytherin or Gryffindor. Slytherin will no doubt lead you to greatness by giving you more ambition. You are cunning and very resourceful when you need to be – something that will bring you success in life. Slytherin would also suit the values of your upbringing. However, I know that it is hard for muggle borns to fit in if they are sorting into Slytherin, so maybe not there. Gryffindor will also do you a good service, bravery is something you should develop further and I can see it being important in your future. You will also enjoy the antics of your fellow Gryffindors despite the rowdiness of some of them. '_

The hat shouted out, "Gryffindor!"

There was a round of polite claps and Alex made his way over to the Gryffindor table. Several people shook his hand politely, including the boy and girl prefects. He took some time to introduce himself with the other first years currently at his table including the buffy haired girl whose name was Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown, Harry Potter, Seamus Finnigan and Parvati Patil. They seemed friendly. He waited until Lisa Turpin was sorted into Ravenclaw then lost interest the rest of the ceremony.

One thing bothered him for the rest of the night but he tried hard to push it towards the back of his mind.

'_What did the hat mean by 'I can see it being important in your future'? Is the hat psychic?'_ Alex wondered, knowing that with magic possibly anything could be possible. As far as he knew….

* * *

_Author Note: _

_Hi, I'm glad I finally finished this chapter! I've closed the poll a while ago and put up another one (if you're interested). Thanks to everyone who voted._

_The results:_

_If Alex Rider went to Hogwarts, which house do you think he would be in?_

_Total of 11 Unique voters._

_Gryffindor - 7 » 63% _

_Slytherin - 3 » 27%_

_Ravenclaw - 1 » 9%_

_Hufflepuff – 0 (poor Hufflepuff)._

_I'm almost sad because I personally wanted Alex to be in Slytherin. Not just because I'm a Slytherin on Pottermore but because I see him having a lot of qualities of that house (the better traits). Still, reviews and help with grammar are always appreciated._


	5. Settling In and Flying Lessons

_Thanks for the reviews, I really, really, really appreciate it. :) You keep this story going. I regret to say that I've lost my Pottermore account details. I am currently upset that Pottermore doesn't continue to the other books yet and I suck at making potions and spells. I was first a Ravenclaw on my first lost account, then a Slytherin._

* * *

"Lisa," Alex inquired, "How many moons did Professor Sinistra say Jupiter and Saturn have again?"

Lisa turned to her Astronomy textbook for knowledge, "It says here that there are 69 moons, 66 of which have been discovered by muggles. Saturn has 62 known by muggles but has a total of 64."

"Thanks."

It wasn't surprising that Lisa Turpin's favourite subject was Astronomy despite not being able to fully pay attention in their Astronomy classes (she ironically wasn't a night person), almost all of her belongings had stickers or pictures of moons, planets and stars on them, some of which were able to move like portraits.

Whenever Alex wanted to study he saw Lisa. He found that he couldn't study on his own or in the Gryffindor common room. He usually procrastinated for hours on end. He could always find her in the library every afternoon, either reading a novel or studying. There was also Hermione Granger to help him, but he found Lisa more approachable and less bossy.

"Can I join you?" whispered Tracey Davis, clutching a stack of books in her hands. She had little interest in school work, but generally joined them for the sake of it. She often openly complained about the other Slytherin girls and found that she frequently needed time away from them.

"You don't have to ask." Alex replied.

"Lisa, I've done all the Astronomy questions. Should we try History? I've found some books to be helpful, more helpful than that incompetent sleeping ghost Binns."

Alex almost jumped when he realised that Theodore Nott was sitting beside them all this time. It surprised Alex that he was still around them; he thought that his and Lisa's muggle born status (Lisa had a muggle born mother and didn't know her father) would have deterred him and that he would have made friends with the other Slytherin boys. Alex still thought Theodore was very strange, but was nice to him regardless.

"I suppose we should," Alex said reluctantly, "But I don't really want to."

"I couldn't care less about the history of house elves or trolls," Lamented Tracey, "Besides; I'm more worried about the Charms and Herbology homework due tomorrow."

"That's beside the point; if I fail any of my subjects my Dad will order Twitchy to stop giving me the sweets she makes."

"Who's Twitchy?" inquired Lisa.

"Oh, she's our house elf. She's called that because she has nervous ticks when she's under stress."

The stern librarian, Mrs Pince noticed that they were talking and made a small 'he hem' as she walked past. She was also known to kick students out if they were talking too much or too loudly – Tracey was almost banned for a month for laughing.

Alex wondered why he had found himself being friends with these three. As much as he got along well with the other Gryffindors, he found that he gravitated towards this group. It was seen as odd for a Gryffindor to have Slytherin friends, as there was always rivalry between these two houses.

'_It's the curse of the Hogwarts Express,'_ Alex remembered Fred Weasley telling him (or was it George?) in the Great Hall one afternoon, _'The people who you sit with on the train on your first day are your first friends at Hogwarts. I've heard it from everyone. My brother and I sat with Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. We're all still great friends.'_

It made Alex wonder, he also met Hermione Granger on the train as did a lot of people but Hermione spent most of her time alone. She came across as a bossy know-it-all and was sometimes teased by other students, even by other Gryffindors.

"Hey Alex, what's the famous Harry Potter like in person?" Tracey asked while reapplying some lip gloss, "Do you have anything to do with him besides sit next to him and Weasley in class?"

"He's actually quite shy. He came to Hogwarts knowing little about his fame. It turns out he was raised by his muggle aunt and uncle. I usually hang out with him, Weasley or Longbottom in the common room."

Theodore scoffed at the mentioning of Longbottom, "That Longbottom is absolutely hopeless. I would have expected him in Hufflepuff."

Alex frowned and refuted, "He's a nice enough guy. It's just that he gets picked on. Professor Snape's bullying doesn't help at all. Snape's always either picking on him or Potter."

Theodore thought about this before replying, "I have to admit he does have favouritism towards Slytherins. He definitely gives more house points to us like when I brewed our boil cure early he gave me more points than Granger who finished earlier."

"Snape's comments like 'You're just like your father' are quite harsh." Lisa commented, "Either way, we should probably make sure our homework for him is finished. We obviously don't want to be on his bad side."

This was something they could all agree on. Alex liked his mismatched group of friends; even though they were a completely different bunch they could always agree on certain things.

* * *

In less than a month, Alex found himself feeling quite at home at Hogwarts. He got along reasonably well with the other students and after getting past the very basics of magic, their classes were starting to become more interesting. Although, he still found wandless magic easier to control. He was told by Professor Flitwick that he would need a wand for more complex magic, but the Professor seemed rather impressed by his ability to control a feather in the air at will.

Alex sent plenty of letters home to Jack and Uncle Ian who both asked him lots of questions. He had no hesitation in answering any question they had. Sadly, he didn't and couldn't keep any of the promises he made to his old school friends and eventually forgot to write to them. There were no computers to send emails and it was unlikely that they would want to be sent a letter by owl. Besides, what would he tell them? He was forbidden to break the secret of magic and he didn't want to continually lie to them about what he was doing.

Jack's letters to him were always optimistic. She told him she was now studying digital media at university for something to do while he was away. She found it far more interesting than Law. Jack also included that she had been going out to dinner with his uncle and had started to do other things with him. As an eleven year old boy, Alex didn't really have a clue about what she was actually implying.

Uncle Ian didn't include a lot of detail into what he was doing; he preferred to ask Alex questions about Hogwarts.

_Hello Alex,_

_I'm glad that you are starting to fit in at your school. I hope you haven't been too disadvantaged by not coming from a magical family. Nothing much has happened at work that is out of the ordinary. I was planning to sit back and watch one of my old DVDs with Jack tonight._

_I was actually doing some investigation into where your magic might have come from and found something interesting about my father. He died from cancer when I was nineteen. He was already quite old when your father and I were born. He had a life of travelling, John and I often went with him as our mother had left without a trace when we were both young._

_My father, Oliver Rider was a spy during the Second World War. It turns out he was originally a German by the name of Oberon Besenreiter before defecting to side with the allies. Apparently Hitler had sided with a man called Gellert Grindelwald. In the letter he wrote before his death that the biggest disappointment in his life 'was not receiving a letter from Durmstrang like his seven brothers and sisters,' but also said he overcome that disadvantage. I had no idea what he meant._

_I was wondering if you could help me._

_Uncle Ian._

When he opened this letter in the common room, Hermione Granger read the letter over his shoulder and unexpectedly (or rather rudely) gave her input.

"Wow!" Hermione said, "That's really cool! That would mean that I could be descent of wizards too somewhere. You know, Durmstrang is a European wizarding school and Grindelwald is one of the darkest wizards in history."

Alex found it hard to think of a reply, "Er, thanks."

Then Ron Weasley joined in, "Just to think, my mother's second cousin who's a squib could have wizard descendants."

This also made Harry Potter smile, something that didn't happen often, "I might tell my aunt that she has wizard ancestors. I wonder how she would react."

Alex had later told Theodore about this just to challenge his pureblood supremacist views and see how he would react.

He remembered Theodore's eyes had widened, "My father told me that muggle borns stole their magic, not that they were descent of squibs. Gellert Grindelwald is the second most infamous wizard in history, only after the Dark Lord and Durmstrang is a school of magic in Eastern Europe. My father considered sending me there because they don't admit muggle borns but decided against it because he wanted me closer to him after Mum died. They also give their classes in German and I was always too lazy to bother learning some German."

Alex wrote a quick reply to Uncle Ian and sent the letter via Screeches Too Much.

* * *

Alex and the most of the other first years ran onto the pitch with over-the-top excitement. It was time for their first flying lesson and it was evident that the majority of students that had never flown before.

"I mean, Mum and Dad had let me ride on toy brooms when I was younger and ride on one with them," said a blond Hufflepuff boy, "But they were always far too protective to actually let me ride a real one by myself."

"Then you haven't really lived yet," replied Ron Weasley, "It's the most awesome thing ever."

Alex could hear a Ravenclaw start to recite a strange poem, "Ever since man had the power to dream he has wanted to ascend into the sky. Scheme after scheme, man has proven that even without wings he was meant to fly. He has managed to go up higher and higher and into the celestial heavens.…"

"Thanks nerd." Seamus Finnigan replied and cut him short. He tended to be a bit rude to Ravenclaws, especially the ones that were a little odd.

Within earshot, he could hear someone boast:

"Well, my parents have let me do it loads of times. I've nearly had an accident with a helicopter…"

Alex couldn't be bothered to listen further. Even without looking, he could tell it was the platinum blond Slytherin Draco Malfoy. Alex's dislike of him came from when he first heard him refer to muggle borns as 'mudbloods' and his general arrogant attitude. From what he had heard from Tracey and Theodore, Draco only hung around the stupid Vincent Crabbe and stupider Gregory Goyle because his obnoxious and attention seeking behaviour annoyed the other Slytherins.

They were all trilled when Madam Hooch arrived to start their lesson. The first thing they were made to do was stand to the side of their broom. They were then instructed to call it by holding out your hand and ordering it 'up'. The first person who managed to get their broom to obey them was Harry Potter, whose broom obeyed him on first command. It took Alex three goes until the broom eventually obeyed him. However, most students took a lot longer.

The objective of the class was to eventually be able to fly through smoke rings conjured by Madame Hooch.

But, as with anything, things can go wrong. When Madame Hooch was teaching them to take off, Neville had lost control of his broom and fell off, breaking his wrist. Alex and most of the other students hoped he was alright. Madame Hooch instructed them to put down the brooms and stay on the ground.

When their teacher was far out of sight, Draco Malfoy held up what looked like Neville's remembrall, "If the great lump wasn't so stupid, he wouldn't have dropped this."

"Leave Neville alone, Draco!" shouted Parvati Patil.

"_Leave Neville alone, Draco_." Mimicked a pug-faced Slytherin girl in a silly, high pitch voice.

"Draco, give it here!" said Harry in a commanding voice.

Draco and his two cronies laughed. Draco got on his broom and started to fly higher. Although Alex didn't believe that Malfoy had a run in with a helicopter, it was obviously that he had previous flying experience.

He threw the remembrall up and down in a taunting way, "No, if you want it, you're going to have to get it."

Harry looked like he was about to get on his broom.

Hermione tried to deter him, "Harry stop! Remember what Madame Hooch said."

Harry only shook his head and went up to challenge Malfoy. He flew up with ease, especially for someone who had never previously been on a broomstick in his life. He and Draco chased each other for a few minutes before Draco threw the remembrall into the air. Harry quickly flew fast and caught it.

Everyone was cheering out of Harry's heroics and display of talent, except for four Slytherins (Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and pug-face). Harry greeted them on the ground with pride; nearly everyone had rushed over to pat him on the back.

That all changed when everyone noticed Professor McGonagall rushing to the scene. There would be consequences.

"Don't expel Harry!" called out Lavender Brown followed by a couple of others.

Harry was whisked away without a word. Draco and his cronies were still laughing.

"If he gets in trouble we're dobbing on _you_, Malfoy! You flew first." Ron Weasley called out.

Draco put his hand around his ear, "Sorry Weasel boy? I can't hear blood traitors."

"Why are you always such an asshole?" Alex blurted, it surprised himself and everyone around him. He said a bad word.

He caught Draco's attention, "You're Rider, aren't you? I don't have to take cheek from mudbloods."

Alex was aware that his muggle born status was a social disadvantage and a mark of inferiority in the eyes of certain people, but during his short attendance at Hogwarts he was already starting to prove himself.

Alex could only think of a simple reply, "Being pureblood does not make the wizard better, smarter or more powerful, Malfoy. Look at Crabbe and Goyle. Look at yourself."

This had obviously set them off. Malfoy's pale face turned bright pink. Both Crabbe and Goyle looked like they wanted to punch his lights out. He had just made mortal enemies with the biggest brutes in the school.

"Overkill mate," Ron whispered to him.

The pug faced girl was the first to respond, "You're a cocky little mudblood aren't you?"

"He has nothing to be ashamed of and neither do I." Hermione cut in. A couple of other student's agreed.

"There is only one way to settle this," Draco responded, filled with burning rage, "and that's through a duel. Me, Crabbe and Goyle against you, Potter and Weasel. Midnight, near the forbidden corridor. Be there or be a loser."

Malfoy and his gang then walked away. When Madame Hooch returned, the lesson continued as if nothing had happened – they didn't have any lessons afterwards anyway and accidents were expected. She didn't notice that four Slytherins were missing.

Other students gave him smiles and seemed to support him. He was troubled by an eerie feeling in his stomach, something wasn't right. However, Ron was already talking about all the spells he would throw at Malfoy.

"I wouldn't go if I were you," Theodore told him while mid-air, he seemed to support neither him nor Malfoy, "It's probably a trap to get you all in trouble. As our prefect Gemma says, 'Gryffindors can be foolish enough to accept any challenge, no matter how dangerous.'"

"I think so," Alex shrugged, "But Ron _really_ wants to do this. I can't abandon him."

Theodore only shook his head in disapproval.

* * *

_A/N: Just another chapter. I hope it's okay. I'm not giving away any plot details but Harry being in Gryffindor has been a good turn for the plot. I have found ways to place him with the trio as well as maintain his friendship with the mismatched group on the Hogwart's Express. If you spot any errors in grammar or plot just say so. Till next time, peace out. ~Allie_


	6. Midnight Madness

"Ron, Harry, I think we should go back to the Gryffindor common room."

Ron who was holding his wand high in case Draco randomly sprung out of nowhere, snorted, "Just a little longer, Alex. If he's not here within five more minutes we're going."

Alex could only roll his eyes, he had said that half an hour ago. They were standing on the third floor near the forbidden corridor and it was close to midnight.

"I really don't think he's coming." Said Harry shrugging.

Harry didn't get in trouble for flying. Professor McGonagall had ended up making him seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team. She only told Harry not to go around telling too many people (so far, he only told Alex and Ron). Alex had never heard of 'quidditch' before during his short time in the magical world but quickly found out that it was deemed as an important and popular sport.

"I think Malfoy is far too chicken," Ron concluded after a short silence, "He's not even man enough to face us."

Harry shook his head, "We're only a couple of weeks in, Ron. The best we could have done to each other is throw sparks and probably set each other's clothes on fire."

"Besides, we would have been bound to get in trouble any way," Alex added.

'_Meow!'_

To their horror, they turned around to find Argus Filch's cat, Mrs Norris standing beside them hissing. The animal was highly annoying and it was a deep desire of many of the Hogwarts residents to give the vindictive feline a good kick. None of the other students knew why her owner, Filch, had to be so spiteful towards the students. Even during their short time at Hogwarts, they knew that where Mrs Norris was, her owner was sure to be near.

"Shit!" Ron whispered, "Hide!"

The three boys looked around awkwardly for a place to hide. There was nothing around that would be able to hide them. Then they looked at the forbidden corridor door, brown - secret, out-of bounds, inconspicuous and aged - it would be the perfect place to hide.

They could all hear Filch's heavy feet walk towards them, accompanied by the usual heavy breathing. Without thinking, they all rushed inside.

The forbidden corridor was dark and had enough dust to make Alex believe that nobody had been in here for a thousand years. There were statues in this room that were more menacing than the usual unusual statues around Hogwarts. The place also gave off the aura that it was isolated from the rest of the castle. It was obvious that they weren't supposed to be here.

"Why did you come in here?" Whispered a girl's voice, all three boys had been too preoccupied to notice that a fourth person had followed them into the forbidden corridor.

They turned around to find Hermione Granger standing behind them.

Ron was the first the respond, "Hermione, goodness sakes, what are you doing here?"

"I was making sure you boys wouldn't get out late and get into trouble. You could get expelled."

"By following us and putting yourself at risk?" Retorted Harry. For someone who was very academically brainy, Hermione obviously lacked some common sense. The bossy girl took this as an insult and pouted.

"How long have you been following us?" Alex inquired.

"Since you all left the common room."

Ron's eyes narrowed, "You sly fox, Hermione!"

Suddenly, there was a rattling and the corridor door opened, leaking more light into the dusty room.

It was Filch looking for them.

"I know you're in here," his unpleasant voice croaked, "You can't hide."

They all hid behind statues. It was dusty and disgusting behind the statues and Alex swore he felt a spider crawl on his left hand, but it was better than being found by Filch. At least there was also some dim light.

It was a little while before Filch left after walking up and down the corridor several times, leaving the four first years in the forbidden corridor. They waited a little longer to make sure that Filch would definitely be gone.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Harry muttered while dusting himself off.

"Which door did we come in?" asked Ron.

They had all forgotten which door they had gone in. There were plenty of doors in the corridor; they only hoped that they would open the right one.

"I think it's this one," Hermione pointed at a door. She instantly pushed her way towards it and tried to fiddle with the handle. It was locked. Alex didn't think it was the right one but didn't bother to say so.

"Maybe Filch locked it when he closed it," she muttered, "I know a spell."

Ron shrugged, "I didn't hear him lock it."

Hermione pointed her wand at the lock, swished and chanted, "_Alohomora_."

She opened the door wide but it was obvious that it was the wrong one. The four were mortified to learn that there was actually a beast inside. A gigantic three headed dog. Alex had never seen anything so terrifying in his life. It was made worse by the fact that they had disturbed it from slumber; two of its heads gave off a big yawn. It didn't take long before the beast noticed them and broke into a bark, then tried to lunge at them. It's heads tried to compete for the place to snap at them.

All four children combined their strength to shut the door. It was hard effort as the beast was strong, but they had managed to do it. Alex ran for the door that he knew was the right one and the rest followed.

After that, they all ran back to the Gryffindor common room. They didn't dare to speak in the meantime.

Ron was the first to lament, "Bloody hell, what was that thing?"

"I don't know and I don't think I really want to find out any time soon." Harry panted.

Alex frowned, "I've always liked dogs but that was the scariest thing I've ever seen."

The other boys nodded.

"That was incredibly stupid," Hermione pompously snapped, "We could have been killed, or worse, expelled."

"Well, as I remember, you were stupid enough to follow us." Ron retorted.

"It's guarding something," Hermione continued ignoring the insult, "Did you see the trap door it was standing on?"

Ron gave her a look of disbelief, "I wasn't looking at the ground! I was far more preoccupied with its heads."

"Any way, I'm going to bed. Before you boys think of another way to get yourselves killed."

To their relief, Hermione stormed off to the girl's dorm without another word.

Her last statement really annoyed Ron, "Blimey, she's a brat isn't she? Why is she trying to blame us? It was _her_ that actually opened the door to the monster, wasn't it? No wonder no one likes her."

Although it was a pretty mean thing to say about someone, Alex and Harry both had to agree. They all went back to the dorm and went to sleep. Alex was intrigued though, Hermione said that the beast was guarding something. He wondered what it could be.

* * *

The next day came as if nothing had ever happened. They didn't let Draco or his gang of Slytherins know that they had actually left the bed that night. Alex had written his misadventure to his uncle and Jack, both of whom were concerned and curious at the same time. His uncle had given him tips to avoid dog attacks but was unsure whether they would work on three headed magical breeds.

He had even mentioned it to his group of library friends which now included Hermione, Harry and Ron. They were nice enough to let Hermione join them, as she didn't want to sit on her own. Harry and Ron had become closer to Alex. They also realised that they needed to study.

Tracey's eyes widened, "You guys actually did go out and accidentally went into the forbidden corridor? You. Must. Tell."

Alex was a little reluctant to tell Tracey, knowing that she had a tendency to gossip. Alex, Ron, Harry and Hermione gave their alternative (and sometimes conflicting) versions of the story.

"I think I know what it is," Lisa said, "Mum keeps a vast reference book on magical creatures at home. I spent hours reading it. I think they are called Cerberus; they are species of three headed canines native to Greece. There's bound to be a book on them somewhere."

Theodore smiled with curiosity, "I really wonder what it could be guarding. It must be something interesting and relatively precious. Father said that some professors bring artefacts from their travels back to the school. The school is fairly well guarded by magic. Hogwarts is hard to locate and break into, even for adept wizards but something really precious would be held in Gringotts. Gringotts is actually quite invincible. I don't think it's dangerous if they put it in a school."

"Well," Hermione began, "I recently came across a newspaper article about a break in at Gringotts."

"Yeah," Ron intervened, "Someone actually managed to break into a vault but they didn't get to steal anything as it had already been cleared. They were the first person to even get away with an attempt alive."

Theodore frowned, "But what are the chances that the contents of this vault are hidden in the forbidden corridor? The owners of the vault could have transferred their belongings anywhere. It could just be coincidence."

"True, true," Hermione agreed. It was the first time Alex had ever seen her be cooperative and accept one of her peers' opinions as being possibly more correct than her own.

"It might not be," Ron refuted, still believing in the possibility that the two events were linked.

"How big is this three headed dog?" Asked Tracey, obviously interested.

"Umm, from memory," Lisa's eyes flicked upwards as her mind accessed the information, "About 9 to 19 feet on average. It depends on whether it is male or female. Males are generally bigger."

Harry nodded, "This one was definitely higher than 10 feet."

Tracey cringed, "I might _not_ consider checking it out for myself then."

The seven children quickly forgot about doing any kind of homework and went into discussion into what could possibly be guarded by fluffy. It went from the boringly logical such as gold (Hermione and Lisa) to the more cunning (Theodore, Alex and Harry) and went into the more bizarre and unlikely (Ron and Tracey). Madame Pince eventually kicked them out after a while, by that time it was already seven thirty and they had half an hour to rush to the dining hall and eat.

* * *

_A/N: I know it won't go exactly according to the book but that can't really be helped, Alex's presence at Hogwarts is going to cause interference with the magical (as well as spy) world. It's been a while since I last read HPatPS. Oh, for readers who live in countries that use the metric system not the imperial or American (like me) 9 to 19 feet is roughly around 3 to 6 meters. I had to use a distance and length conversion site for that one. Next chapter will be Halloween._


	7. Halloween

It was Alex's first Halloween at Hogwarts and all that he could say was that magic folk celebrated the holiday like it was purely self-dedication. The Halloween feast in The Great Hall was more than enough evidence to prove it.

Everything was delectable and extravagantly made (except for the cockroach crunch, which to Alex's disgust was actually made out of real cockroaches). He had never seen so many sweet treats in his life. His favourites were definitely the spooky cupcakes, followed by the liquorice spiders. Ron was busy hacking away at a large golden pudding. Harry's favourite seemed to be the treacle tart. Alex knew that almost everyone in The Great Hall was going to feel sick following the digestion of too much sugar.

One person Alex was sure wouldn't be sick was Hermione, who was far too sad to enjoy herself tonight. She was sitting beside Harry with eyes that were red and puffy. She

"What can I do?" Ron shrugged, "I already said I was sorry."

Harry shook his head. Ron had teased Hermione after Charms when she had tried to show him how to levitate a feather. It was Tracey who had ultimately coaxed Hermione to come to the Halloween feast and with Alex and Harry's help, forced Ron to apologise.

'_It's levi-O-sa not leviosa. No wonder she hasn't got any friend.'_

Alex could only frown at Ron and say, "You have to admit it wasn't very nice."

Ron then turned to Hermione and between mouthfuls of food said, "Hermione, I am really, really, really sorry. Please forgive me."

Hermione pouted and turned her face away from Ron. Obviously, it would be a while before Ron would be forgiven.

Alex found himself feeling sorry for Hermione. There was a definite reason why she lacked social skills. From what he already knew about Hermione, she hadn't had many friends before. At her last school she was bullied and teased by other girls for her pompous and bossy attitude. As a muggle born she didn't know why odd things seemed to happen in her presence but unlike Alex she kept on having accidents and had little control of her innate magic. She had never explicitly told Alex this though, it was just a conclusion he had come up with based upon the stories he overheard like listening to her tell Tracey and Lisa about how she made a nasty blonde girl go bald overnight.

Alex had to admit that it would have been much more fun if Hermione's bitter mood didn't come towards him like a rain cloud. Never-the-less, Alex would have continued to talk and eat the entire night if it wasn't for a certain interruption…

Professor Quirrell bust through The Great Hall door, ran through the corridor and screamed in a voice louder than anything Alex had ever heard him:

"TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!"

Everyone stopped in silence. Their attentions had been turned to the turban wearing man who had disrupted their evening.

"I thought you might want to know…"

He then fainted, leaving his body lying like a rock in the middle of The Great Hall.

* * *

After the initial reaction of shock, the students were evacuated to their common rooms as a safety precaution. Alex wanted to follow his friends and the other Gryffindors back to the common room, but it seemed that fate had other plans.

"Harry, Alex – I think I've left my bag in the girls' bathroom." Hermione said anxiously.

Harry frowned, "Well, I'm sure you can pick it up tomorrow."

"Harry, I have my homework in there. I _have_ to get it. It's the Charms homework which is due tomorrow morning."

"I'm sure Professor Flitwick will understand this once, he only gives detention if you forget more than twice in a row. We have to go back to the common room."

It was then that Hermione started to plead, "Please help. I can't sleep without having done it. If you boys won't help me I'll go by myself."

Under normal circumstance the boys would have just said 'no' to her unreasonable request and left Hermione to get her belongings on her own with a troll on the loose but the boys knew they would have to be nicer than usual to Hermione after what had happened this afternoon, especially Ron.

They went out with the impression that it was highly unlikely that in a castle as big as Hogwarts, they would encounter a troll.

* * *

"Well, Hermione?" Ron said, "Are you happy now?"

Hermione picked up her dull beige bag and gave it a hug. She did not answer him, it was clear that she was still giving Ron the silent treatment.

Alex felt was necessary to say something, "Let's go, if anyone catches us where dead."

Hermione nodded. This girls' bathroom wasn't too different to boys but with some notable differences. Obviously, he didn't want to stay there very long.

'_Clump, clump, clump, clump.'_

The four of them could hear what sounded like heavy footsteps. They all froze where they were standing. Alex hoped that they had not made enough noise to make the troll decide to follow them. As the sounds started to get louder, there was a peculiar horrid smell and the sounds of groaning.

It was exactly what they feared.

"Quick, hide." Harry whispered. They all began to scramble to hide and just in case the giant would follow them into the bathroom.

They waited in silence for what felt like an eternity. The footsteps didn't get any fainter. The smell slowly got worse and worse. It was a sickly mucous smell that made them all want to gag.

Inevitably, the troll made its way into the bathroom. Alex guessed that it could have easily been about ten feet tall. Its skin had a greenish hue. In its hand it held a club. Alex had never seen such an awful looking thing in his life.

"Grurrr…." It groaned at the sight of the children.

'_Oh no,'_ were the only words that instantly sprung into Alex's mind.

The children were frozen in fear; they did not want to make the first move. Within seconds, the troll became angry and started to swing its club violently in all directions. It smashed some cubicles and a sink as it tried and failed to attack the children. Hermione started screaming for help. As strong as the troll seemed, it obviously didn't have a lot of co-ordination, hearing or intelligence. Alex thought that if they could all try to go out the door, they could run to safety.

Something really bad only happened when Ron tripped over and the giant picked him up by the leg. It began to shake him around; Alex hoped that Ron wouldn't get a serious injury. Harry threw a plank of wood at the troll in an attempt to distract it and make it put Ron down. Alex followed, so did Hermione.

However, the troll seemed to be thick skinned and did not notice. Harry took out his wand. He hadn't learnt many spells yet, so Alex had no idea what he was planning to do.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Harry chanted and the club that was in the trolls other hand levitated out of reach. The troll did not like losing control of the club and grasped to reach it. It dropped Ron in the process; Hermione was prompt to run to his aid and see if he was alright. Ron was still conscious, though it looked like he was in pain.

Harry had enough control to be able to move the club and smashed it hard enough to into the troll's skull to render it unconscious.

That was not really a good idea. The troll began to fall in the direction where Hermione and Ron were. It was now that Alex knew he had to act, with all his strength he tried to make the troll stop.

Within seconds, the troll disintegrated into dust before their eyes. They, the floor and everything around them were covered in dust. It wasn't something that Alex had planned but had no regrets.

They all decided to make a quick getaway. They dusted themselves off as well as they could before Hermione used a cleaning spell to get rid of all the dust on them. Alex and Harry helped carry Ron back to the common room. It was there that Ron said to Hermione:

"Hermione, you do have friends. You know that."

She was touched.

* * *

The next day the group of four went on with their day as if nothing had happened. Ron had drunk a healing potion to rid him of his injuries (given from his mother just in case Ron had an accident). The troll was considered to be either a prank or hallucination of Professor Quirell. The mess in the girls' bathroom was attributed to Halloween mischief.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry if I haven't been undating this as regularly as you would have liked. I have just been so busy. I've also had a wild burst of creativity with my other story 'Harry James Evans: The Boy Who Lives.' Check it out if you have nothing better to do. Thanks for the reviews (even the random ones) and follows. :)_


	8. Quidditch

Before Alex knew it, it was already November and the Quidditch season was starting. Out of all of them, Ron was the most excited. He had waited for all of his childhood to finally attend a Quidditch match at Hogwarts and now he was. The fact that one of his best friends was the team's seeker made it doubly exciting. Theodore and Lisa surprisingly had very little interest in Quidditch despite being raised in the magical world. The only real interest Tracey held in the sport was getting to dress up with the other Slytherin girls in green costumes and cheer. Hermione had done some reading into the sport, but wasn't as knowledgeable or passionate as Ron was.

Both Harry and himself had never heard of Quidditch before and were interested. Hermione had let them borrow a book called _Quidditch Through the Ages_, it was good if you wanted to know history but it was useless for knowing the rules of the game (a lot of the language was over their heads). Ron was more helpful in explaining and Harry was taught the rules from the team captain, Oliver Wood.

Alex had the impression that it was vaguely like football on broomsticks but to win the game, the Seeker had to catch the snitch - a small golden orb that flew across the stadium with little tiny wings at the speed of a hummingbird on drugs. There were also bludgers which could attack players; it was the job of the Beaters to defend the other players. It all sounded very mad to Alex but never-the-less interesting.

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The first match of the season was Slytherin vs Gryffindor, apparently was always highly charged due to the ongoing rivalry between the two houses. By the time Alex, Ron and Hermione got there, the stadium was already packed.

"Hey there enemies," they turned around to see Tracey behind them wearing the most bizarre green elf outfit he had ever seen. Her face was almost completely covered in green makeup.

Ron started laughing, but this did not seem to offend her.

She merely blew a raspberry, "Laugh all you want but by the time I'm a fourth year, I'll get to decide what the juniors wear. Being a part of the greatest house is amazing. You do realize that we_ are_ going to win again? Slytherins are natural winners. You all picked the wrong house."

Ron laughed heartily, "In your wildest dreams darling."

"Hah," Hermione continued, "We might strike it lucky with the youngest seeker in a century."

"Well," Tracey continued with a smile and a wink, "perhaps experience will prevail over simple natural talent. Anyway, good luck to Harry – he's gonna need it."

She turned and walked away, leaving Hermione, Ron and Alex the impression that the Slytherin girl was their friend after all – despite what other students say about Slytherins.

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They found a seat next to the other first year Gryffindor boys. Dean and Seamus were in front already cheering with everyone else. Neville was sitting by himself, so naturally they joined him.

"Hey Nev," Alex said, "How is everything?"

"Fine." Was the only reply Neville gave, he was obviously too shy to talk to Alex. He would talk to Hermione and Harry though, even if he hardly ever spoke to any other Gryffindors.

Alex came to Hogwarts expecting to be as popular as he was at his last school. He would have never even bothered to talk to someone like Neville there. His associations with people like Hermione, Harry (even though he was famous), Lisa and Theodore were unlikely to boast his social standing. He also found out that being a muggle born was a bigger social disadvantage than he thought it would be. But when he thought about it he didn't really care, as Jack would say – "sometimes life pulls you in a different direction" – and besides, he also enjoyed their company more than the friends he had at his old school.

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The match started not long after they were seated. Everybody going for Gryffindor cheered extra loudly when Harry flew into the stadium. The Slytherin supporters hissed in envy of missing out on having him in their house.

Quidditch really was the most interesting sport he had ever seen. Not only because they could fly, but because of the game dynamics. The way the keeper protected their rings and the chasers passed the ball reminded him of volleyball. The beaters hitting the crazy and insane bludgers like tennis. Alex watched as Harry scouted the field for the golden snitch. Just faintly, he could see that the look on Harry's face was of sheer determination.

"Come on Harry, you can do it." He muttered.

The match continued for a while until it looked like Harry spotted the snitch and raced towards it. Alex felt a lurch of excitement. It was lost when a Slytherin player hastily slammed into Harry, pushing him out of the way.

Alex could hear Dean Thomas call - "Red card! Red Card!"

Madame Hooch blew her whistle hard and pointed at the Slytherin captain. He had scored a penalty, something the Slytherin supporters booed at.

It was a while before Harry seemed to spot the snitch again and the Slytherin seeker didn't seem to see it either. Suddenly, Harry's broom began to move uncontrollably, swinging him back and forth trying to throw him to the ground. Alex and the others held their breaths.

"Only Dark Magic could make a broom do that," called a deep voice, he turned around to see Hagrid the caretaker of Hogwarts, "Fowl play!"

"Alex, Ron," Hermione called with her binoculars fixed on something, "I see Snape muttering something. Maybe it's a curse!"

She gestured to them to come forward to have a look.

Ron gasped "Woah, it is Snape then."

Through the binoculars, Alex could see Snape muttering. He stood there very still with his hands clasped and Alex noticed that he was not blinking.

"I have to do something to distract him," She muttered, "I have to at least do something."

"Be quick." Ron whispered.

Alex felt worried for both Hermione and Harry, "Just make sure you don't get caught."

She went off without anyone noticing, leaving Alex and Ron to hope for the best. If she got caught there would be trouble and Harry could be seriously hurt if nothing was done.

"Stay in there, Harry!" Alex yelled, "You can do it!"

Ron started clapping, "Come on, Harry!"

Harry was still hanging on despite his broom shaking so fast it almost looked like a blur. Behind him, the other students were cheer for Harry not to let go as well. Hagrid was by far the loudest.

Soon however, Harry's broom stopped moving and he was able to gain more control over it. Harry then quickly got back on and resumed the game. Using the binoculars, Alex saw that Snape was preoccupied with something, looking downwards and stamping on the ground.

'_Maybe she had found a spell to summon cockroaches, set fire or something_,' Alex thought.

Despite gaining control, Harry started falling fast towards the ground. He eventually crashed with a thud, although it didn't look like he was seriously hurt. However, it looked like he wanted to vomit and the whole stadium fell as silent as it possibly could. Within seconds, a small golden orb popped out of Harry's mouth and he held it up for everyone to see. The whole stadium exploded with either cheers or groans. It was over. Gryffindor had won.

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"You were really luck both to win and not be killed," Theodore told Harry during their next session in the library.

Harry smiled, he had made quite an achievement and was proud but he was not arrogant about it. Everyone was congraduating him. Well, everyone except Slytherins besides Theodore and Tracey who were unhappy to lose.

"It was lucky that Hermione came in just in time to set Snape's cloak on fire to break his eye contact." Ron commented.

"What? Broke his eye contact? What are you talking about?" Lisa asked.

Hermione put down the book she was reading, "We saw Snape muttering something under his breath. We think he was muttering a curse to hurt Harry."

Tracey frowned, "Why would Snape injure anyone? Sure his behaviour is bit off-putting but I seriously doubt he would hurt Harry. Or anyone really."

"It might have been someone else… There were plenty of people in the stadium that day." Theodore added.

"That's easy for you to say," Harry said, "You're in his house. Have you noticed the way he treats me in particular?"

Theodore frowned again, "I just think he doesn't like Gryffindors. He picks on Longbottom just as much."

"How can you say that? He doesn't even give you the creeps?" Alex said in dismay.

"He's a good teacher and he's a good house leader."

"There's definitely more to him than meets the eye. That's for sure." Lisa stated.

Alex continued, "Hagrid doesn't believe us, either. We went to see him after the match. He said Snape is one of the professors protecting whatever is there."

Tracey rolled her eyes, "Not the Nicholas Flamel theory again. That's none of our business. Besides, isn't it getting a bit boring?"

Although the others were interested in the whole fiasco revolving the Nicholas Flamel, but Tracey believed that it was none of their concern. She obviously believed that they shouldn't get involved in the happenings of grown-ups. It sounded like advice Uncle Ian would have given him. Alex supposed that she was right about that but it seemed to involve Harry and therefore was involved with them as well.

"Oh and another thing. The three headed dog is owned by Hagrid and is called Fluffy." Ron continued.

"What that _thing_ has a name?!" Tracey said in disbelief.

Ron smirked, "That's what I said."

"And it's guarding whatever is down there." Hermione confirmed.


	9. A Surprising Christmas

AN: Hello, I'm back. Sorry I haven't been able to update much

* * *

Considering how good Halloween festivities were, it wasn't a surprise that Hogwarts celebrated Christmas in an equally extravagant but beautiful way. There was a huge Christmas tree at the front of the Dining Hall as well as decorations throughout the castle.

However not everyone was looking forward to Christmas or appreciated the decorations. The other day, Alex watched in dismay as Peeves the poltergeist spent a lot of his time mischievously smashing and breaking ornaments and teasing students as they passed by. Alex was also a little shocked that his friends were not particularly looking forward to the holiday break. He knew Hermione would also be going home and was quite glad to be seeing her parents again; however he could not say much about the others. He was surprised when Ron, Harry and Lisa added their names to the list of people who would not be going home for the break.

Tracey Davis was not particularly excited, as she told them during one of the library sessions:

"Well, I hope it will be better than last year's Christmas. I spent Christmas last year squabbling with my sisters. Xylia hogged all the turkey meat. Mary ended up crying all afternoon because her jerk of an ex-boyfriend decided to dump her on Christmas Eve. Amethyst was at work. My little brothers Hugo and Rex were fighting most of the time. My parents couldn't afford many gifts for us, so all I got last year was some cheap make up and a hair tie. Everyone at school laughed at me."

"That's still better than I got," Harry frowned, "Last year the Dursleys gave me a pair of Dudley's old knickerbockers. I also had to help Aunt Petunia cook everything."

"That's awful," Tracey exclaimed, "I don't understand why they wouldn't appreciate having a kid like you around. You are family after all."

"My family has an extreme dislike of magic in all forms. They're close-minded and intolerant of me being different. They spoil Dudley with everything."

"Don't worry Harry, I'm also staying." Lisa told him, "My mother has to go on a trip to Australia for her work. She won't be able to see me."

"Don't forget that I am too, Harry." Ron exclaimed, "Mum, Dad and Ginny are going to see Charlie in Romania. So I'm going to be here with my brothers."

Harry smiled a little. It would be awful to be spending Christmas alone, especially when you're only eleven.

Alex had noticed that Theodore had been acting off-sorts for days – he was far more quiet and sullen than usual. He never smiled and seemed more intent on being alone. Alex began to suspect that something was very wrong. He originally thought that Theodore was being harassed by Malfoy and his 'friends', but Theodore said he got along just fine with them. Also, he said that they didn't realise that Theodore had anything to do with 'Potter's Gang' aka Harry, Ron, Hermione and Alex.

"Theodore," Lisa asked, "Are you going home?"

Theodore's face almost drained itself completely of colour.

"Yes, I am." He replied in a timid voice.

"You don't seem happy at all about it." Hermione commented.

"Dad and I don't get along very well. It's been hard since Mum died."

Theodore looked like he wanted to cry but didn't, instead he got up and ran out of the library.

There was obviously more to their subtle and cunning Slytherin friend than they originally thought.

Listening to his friends made Alex realise one thing, there was a surprising amount of people who didn't have a 'perfect' family but also plenty that had a truly unhappy family. Harry and Theodore were two of them. Alex might have just Uncle Ian as family but at least he got along well with them. He was blessed in that aspect.

* * *

Both Uncle Ian and Jack came to meet him at the King Cross Station Platform 9 and 3/4. They seemed really pleased to see them. He was glad too; he had been missing them both miserably. They might have been able to exchange letters but that wasn't enough, he needed to see them face to face – in person.

Jack greeted him with the biggest hug. She looked great, not that she usually didn't, but he noticed that she had started to wear make-up and wear more mature clothes than her usual pants and t-shirt. Uncle Ian gave him a big pat on the back and their usual knuckle punch. His Uncle had not physically changed one bit, except perhaps for a slight scar on his left cheek which Alex assumed was probably from mountain climbing again. However, his Uncle seemed to be happier. It seemed that a fair bit of change had occurred since he had left.

When they arrived home, he was relieved find that at least their house had no changed that much. Jack admitted that she hadn't had much time to redecorate this year with the new course she was doing at university. She definitely liked it more than law, which was a good thing. His room was exactly how he left it, which he was glad about.

At dinner time, Alex helped Jack by setting up the table. Jack had decided to cook a nice dinner, something a bit nicer than the packet mixes that Jack would usually take five minutes to put together.

"Alex, how is the food at Hogwarts?" Uncle Ian asked as they sat down.

"Really good. They usually have something I like every night."

"How do they cater for so many kids?" Jack asked curiously.

"House elves, lots of them. They do pretty much everything, besides cooking they also clean."

"Hmm…" Jack said curiously, "That's quite interesting."

"How is the Bank?" Alex asked his Uncle.

"There have been a lot more problems lately. We've been having big issues with security."

"Alex…" Jack paused, it seemed like it was something she really wanted to say, "Ian and I have been… dating."

Alex was surprised. He had no idea about this at all. He had never imagined such a thing happening.

"I knew it was a wrong time to tell him…" Uncle Ian frowned.

"Well, he would have figured it out sooner or later…"

"I'm cool with it," he said with a smile, he really was glad for them, "Whatever makes you both happy."

They both looked relieved.

* * *

Alex spent the next two days living life as if he was not magic. He had to admit that life was not the same. He was surprised to see that he had gotten a fair few emails from his primary school friends and about what they were doing. He would have to apologise over not being able to respond to them. He wouldn't be able to tell them about Hogwarts or anything but at least he would have some sort of reminder of life outside the magical world. However, he knew that maybe it was better that he dropped all contact with them. Sadly, he still remembered how Angus Simpson reacted to him as a child – he feared a similar reaction now. He only responded out of politeness. He assumed they would have forgotten about him and made new friends at their respective middle schools by now.

He was startled the other day when Uncle Ian invited him to his office upstairs. He had never been allowed into his uncle's office and it was usually locked, so Alex had no idea what was in there. It was like a totally different world.

"Uncle, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes Alex. I promise this won't take long."

His uncle's office looked totally unspectacular; it contained just a desk with a laptop and some filing cabinets. The office was almost abnormally neat and tidy, but his uncle was always one for order. There was only one poster on the wall, it was of a sunny beach but even that was nothing particularly interesting.

"Alex, there have been problems at my work partially because it has been discovered that you are a wizard. I thought it necessary just to tell you. I know that you can keep it a secret as I have tried to keep yours as much as I could."

Alex was confused. Why would a bank be interested in him or the fact that he was a wizard? Banks were supposed to be all about money after all.

"Alex, I'm not an overseas finance manager for the Royal & General Bank. I really work for MI6. I'm a secret agent."

With so many surprises and changes, Alex felt like his world was starting to flip upside-down. What else had happened in his absence? Alex was a bit afraid.

"What problems have occurred in regards to it?"

"Well, my top bosses have talked to me and seem to be very interested in you, me and our trip to Diagon Alley. Apparently MI6 has been interested in wizards for ages. It doesn't surprise me."

"Does it mean that they are spying on us?"

"A bit more than they usually do but it's not anything to worry about. This is the only room in the house I know is one hundred percent safe. At least I know that they aren't interested in taking your blood or anything. I wouldn't allow it anyway. I just thought I would let you know Alex but I don't think that there isn't anything to be concerned over."

"Ok."


End file.
